about to call him when the
phone rang.
“Sol
Investigations, Erin McRea speaking.”
“Hey,
Sergeant, long time no talk. How’s tricks?”
“Gavin, it’s
been a while hasn’t it.” She couldn’t stop the happy smile his
voice induced. “Did you pass your sergeant’s exam yet?”
Gavin laughed.
“Still trying. Don’t have wonder woman around to coach me anymore.
How’s the private dick stuff going anyway?”
“Some days I
wonder what my reason was for taking this job. Most days, I just
look at the pay cheque and I’m happy.”
“Really? It’s
that good? Need an assistant?”
“Sorry, got
one. If he leaves to pursue his acting career I’ll give you a
call.”
“You better. I
got your message. You need something?”
Erin walked
back to her car. It was only ten o’clock and there were very few
people on the streets. In a couple of hours, the footpaths would be
packed with people going on lunch. “I’m working a missing persons
case. All I’ve got is some footage from a security tape from a club
called Kirby’s.”
“That place
shut years ago.”
“So I’ve
discovered. Listen, the footage is from about six years ago, and
shows an incident between a man and a young woman. He’s got a
pretty bad limp, walks with a cane, but it didn’t stop him from
laying into this girl with extreme prejudice. Know anything about
it?”
There was a
rustle as Gavin moved around. “Not off the top of my head. Let me
do a search and get back to you. This number good?”
“Yeah, this
number’s great. Let me give you my fax as well.” She rattled off
the number. “Thanks, Gav. You’re really saving me a lot of
frustration with this.”
“If I find
anything, sure. So, Kate’s been at me to call you. How’s Bill
doing?”
Taking a
couple of deep breaths to steel her resolve, Erin said, “He’s doing
really well. I’ll tell him you and Kate asked after him.”
“Hey, you guys
should come over for dinner one night. Kate’s been practicing this
Vietnamese cooking and I don’t think I should be the only person to
suffer.”
Reaching her
car, Erin leaned against it. “Ah, I don’t think that would be a
good idea. William’s still a bit touchy with what he eats. Chemo
and all.”
“No problem.
We don’t have to do the Asian. I do a mean charcoal grill. Nothing
blander than my cooking.”
She began to
make negative noises again.
“Come on,
Erin. It’s been so long since Kate’s seen you. Since we’ve had a
real chance to talk. You can’t tell me you’re getting out much,
what with this job and Bill being the way he is.”
“No, Gavin.”
Her fingers tightened around the phone so hard the case creaked.
“It’s not a good time, okay. William’s fine, I’m fine, just leave
it at that.”
There was a
pause long enough that Erin considered hanging up, but eventually
she heard Gavin sigh.
“Hey, I’m
sorry. Didn’t mean to push. We’re just worried about you, that’s
all.”
Some of the
tension left Erin’s shoulders. “I’m sorry too. Truthfully, William
had bad night and I didn’t get much sleep.”
“I understand.
Is there anything me or Kate can do?”
“No. Not
really. Thanks for the offer, though. If I need anything in future,
I’ll ask. So, you’ll see what you can find about that night at
Kirby’s?”
“Of course.
I’ll try to get back to you this arvie, okay?”
“That’s great.
Thank you.”
They exchanged
slightly awkward goodbyes and hung up. Erin got into her car and
was about pull out when she got a text message. It was from Ivan,
giving her the address of the owner of Kirby’s. It was in New Farm,
not far from Fortitude Valley, were she currently was. Erin plugged
the address into her nav system and set out.
Not long
later, Erin pulled up outside an old Queenslander behind a tall,
wooden fence. She got out, straightened her skirt and went to the
gate. Loud barking greeted her, soon followed by an even louder,
“Shut the hell up, Godzilla.”
A
phone rang.
“Sol
Investigations, Erin McRea speaking.”
“Hey,
Sergeant, long time no talk. How’s tricks?”
“Gavin, it’s
been a while hasn’t it.” She couldn’t stop the happy smile his
voice induced. “Did you pass your sergeant’s exam yet?”
Gavin laughed.
“Still trying. Don’t have wonder woman around to coach me anymore.
How’s the private dick stuff going anyway?”
“Some days I
wonder what my reason was for taking this job. Most days, I just
look at the pay cheque and I’m happy.”
“Really? It’s
that good? Need an assistant?”
“Sorry, got
one. If he leaves to pursue his acting career I’ll give you a
call.”
“You better. I
got your message. You need something?”
Erin walked
back to her car. It was only ten o’clock and there were very few
people on the streets. In a couple of hours, the footpaths would be
packed with people going on lunch. “I’m working a missing persons
case. All I’ve got is some footage from a security tape from a club
called Kirby’s.”
“That place
shut years ago.”
“So I’ve
discovered. Listen, the footage is from about six years ago, and
shows an incident between a man and a young woman. He’s got a
pretty bad limp, walks with a cane, but it didn’t stop him from
laying into this girl with extreme prejudice. Know anything about
it?”
There was a
rustle as Gavin moved around. “Not off the top of my head. Let me
do a search and get back to you. This number good?”
“Yeah, this
number’s great. Let me give you my fax as well.” She rattled off
the number. “Thanks, Gav. You’re really saving me a lot of
frustration with this.”
“If I find
anything, sure. So, Kate’s been at me to call you. How’s Bill
doing?”
Taking a
couple of deep breaths to steel her resolve, Erin said, “He’s doing
really well. I’ll tell him you and Kate asked after him.”
“Hey, you guys
should come over for dinner one night. Kate’s been practicing this
Vietnamese cooking and I don’t think I should be the only person to
suffer.”
Reaching her
car, Erin leaned against it. “Ah, I don’t think that would be a
good idea. William’s still a bit touchy with what he eats. Chemo
and all.”
“No problem.
We don’t have to do the Asian. I do a mean charcoal grill. Nothing
blander than my cooking.”
She began to
make negative noises again.
“Come on,
Erin. It’s been so long since Kate’s seen you. Since we’ve had a
real chance to talk. You can’t tell me you’re getting out much,
what with this job and Bill being the way he is.”
“No, Gavin.”
Her fingers tightened around the phone so hard the case creaked.
“It’s not a good time, okay. William’s fine, I’m fine, just leave
it at that.”
There was a
pause long enough that Erin considered hanging up, but eventually
she heard Gavin sigh.
“Hey, I’m
sorry. Didn’t mean to push. We’re just worried about you, that’s
all.”
Some of the
tension left Erin’s shoulders. “I’m sorry too. Truthfully, William
had bad night and I didn’t get much sleep.”
“I understand.
Is there anything me or Kate can do?”
“No. Not
really. Thanks for the offer, though. If I need anything in future,
I’ll ask. So, you’ll see what you can find about that night at
Kirby’s?”
“Of course.
I’ll try to get back to you this arvie, okay?”
“That’s great.
Thank you.”
They exchanged
slightly awkward goodbyes and hung up. Erin got into her car and
was about pull out when she got a text message. It was from Ivan,
giving her the address of the owner of Kirby’s. It was in New Farm,
not far from Fortitude Valley, were she currently was. Erin plugged
the address into her nav system and set out.
Not long
later, Erin pulled up outside an old Queenslander behind a tall,
wooden fence. She got out, straightened her skirt and went to the
gate. Loud barking greeted her, soon followed by an even louder,
“Shut the hell up, Godzilla.”
A
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